


our two shadows are fluttering

by orphan_account



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Cute, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 14:30:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19792843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: jaemin frequents the cafe near his dorm after school to do his school works. then comes a boy who's rather interested in his bag.





	our two shadows are fluttering

**Author's Note:**

> was inspired by walk you home while i was showering lmao

jaemin would be lying if he said he's not guilty of milking his wallet to different cafes near his school. 

he simply cannot help but admire the unique interiors and different themes along with the great drinks and food they all serve. though, there's one cafe that he frequents the most. inside there are three tables (two of which four people can sit) and one long table pushed to the wall. the lemon colored walls are contrasted by the tortilla brown colored tables and black chairs, the rectangle-patterned flooring and the counter are also colored by different hues of light brown, as well as the shelf full of antique things the owner must own. five quotes are framed throughout the place—his favorite one is "Don't forget to eat or else you'll die!" (he gave the wall a hard stare the first time he saw it, but liked it later anyway) and a painting of flowers at the very middle of the cafe that is complimented by the walls. the best part of this cafe (named Star Blossom Cafe) is it's only a minute and a block away from his dorm.

he knew the reason why he goes cafe hopping and does whatever needs to be done there is because he's the only one living in his fair sized dormitory; and he doesn't like to be alone, well he does when he wants to finish things, but he prefers to be surrounded by life rather than the four white walls and his non-living stuff. he goes there three over five school days per week, the other two days is for him to discover and re-visit the other cafes he likes.

over the past 7 months of being a freshman, he had only discovered star blossom cafe two months after classes has started. the owner, he then later found out is named doyoung, has seen him so often that when he sees jaemin walk in and greet him, he immediately places his order the boy always gets (which is a clubhouse sandwich with fries on the side and coffee frappuccino) . although it's taeil, doyoung's older brother, co-owner, and the one who runs the cafe everyday since doyoung is in his last year of college, that gives him a second serving (sometimes pasta when he orders) when the clock hits eight, three hours after jaemin's dismissal.

✫彡

stepping into the familiar cold space, jaemin greeted taeil and headed to his usual spot—the first seat on the long table pushed to the wall because there's an outlet underneath it—and brought out his laptop and notebook to write his notes. plugging in his headphones, he starts to do his work while trying to tame his growling stomach.

two minutes later, another student comes in, admiring the cozy feeling the place gives him. though he immediately dislikes the framed quotes because he thought it would be better if it was carved or stamped or painted in wood to complete the brown vibes the cafe is having.

he takes a seat at the single table which is the nearest one in the counter, which also happens to be on the opposite side of _the other_ person other than him is sitting. after paying for his order, he takes out the templates he's been working on for a project.

seeing the waiter(? he's still working on his korean) coming with his food, he decided to take a break and have a feast.

then he sees it.

_the other_ boy's keychains on his bag.

and one of them is _moomin!_ he squeals inwardly.

he also notices the various pins on his bag. from enamel pins of marvel and anime characters to simple ones with quotes from some western shows he knows.

he snapped out of his thoughts when the boy he's observing opens his bag and takes out...

_a moomin pencil case!_ he squeals inwardly once again.

feeling determined, he takes out his own moomin pencil case specially full for the colored pencils he owns with a thought of drawing the peculiar backpack after finishing his food.

after eating, he cleared his table and immediately brought out his sketch notebook, not wanting the bag to get away from his sight soon.

he draws the table where it's seated on with a brown pencil first, trying to make it angled forward (and have the bag look bigger) then shading its legs. he then starts to outline the backpack with a black pencil, and shading its straps.

he draws the pins first. particularly the "why is gamora?" pin with drax's skin as its background.

as he started to outline the "i want it that way" pin of brooklyn nine-nine, _the other_ started to pack up.

trying not to panic, he then picked up a different pencil then started to sketch quickly on a new page to make it seem like he's not looking back and forth from a stranger's bag to his sketch notebook.

jaemin stood up and slightly bowed to taeil in which he received a wave back. he then took a quick glance to _the boy_ seated opposite him, as he has seen him looking back and forth in his direction from his laptop screen.

_was there something on my back?_ he thought, 

he tries to dismiss the thought.

✫彡

the next time he visited the cafe, all tables were occupied except for the four-person table beside the single table. he then sighed because he remembers his laptop is not fully charged.

while waiting for his laptop to open, he then noticed the person sat in the single table.

it was the same person who was looking back and forth to him the last time he was here.

how could he forget the moomin pencil case the other also owns?

he paid no mind to it and hoped _the boy_ beside him won't look at him repeatedly.

he didn't.

✫彡

the next time jaemin visited the cafe (the last one for this week), he was greeted by doyoung who was serving the table nearest to the door. he then noticed that the cafe was full of students on their laptops and papers.

sighing, he takes a final look around.

as he was reaching the door handle, he stops.

a boy is using only one side of the four-person table.

and he sees the moomin pencil case for the third time this week.

he didn't really want to go back to his dorm yet, so he has no choice.

he approaches _the boy_.

"excuse me," jaemin timidly says, _the boy_ looks up at him with the light reflecting in his eyes.

_oh god he's pretty._

_the boy_ smiled back with a questioning hum, immediately looking at the bag of the person standing.

_oh god it's him._

"may i share a table with you? i have a long quiz tomorrow and exams on monday and i really like this cafe and i'd rather study here than anywhere else." jaemin says in a single breath albeit quietly, not wanting to disturb the other customers.

"oh yeah yeah sure. let me just move these." 

"thank you."

he then sat down and placed his bag on the seat in his left, bringing out what seems like two accounting books, a record notebook, a pen, a pencil, and a calculator.

_the other_ couldn't help but put a small empathetic smile on his face. he took a quick glance on the bag in front of him, he really wanted to finish his sketch of the bag. but he also needed to finalize the templates he's finalizing and the stranger might find him weird. he releases a sigh instead and returned on what he's doing.

jaemin on the other hand, noticed what _the boy_ is doing. multiple papers are stacked beside on a seemingly empty binder, multiple colored pencils as well as mechanical pencils and a ruler are in front of _the boy_. he couldn't help but put a small empathetic smile on his face then started to focus on the books in front of him.

✫彡

doyoung couldn't help but release a small sigh off relief as he sat down after he served the last customers of the day (they arrived three minutes until closing time). the exams season just started to other colleges, thankfully, his just ended today and that's why he was able to help his brother in the cafe which is full of students doing various things.

"do you think they'll finish soon?" taeil asked without looking up from the total sales he's calculating for today.

doyoung knows who he's talking about though, there are only two students who became regulars on their cafe for that particularly caught their attention.

"no i don't, i think they're going to close for us." the older released a chuckle at the reply.

true enough, jaemin and _the boy_ are the only ones left. doyoung clicked his tongue at this, it's 10 pm and it could be dangerous for anyone to be on the streets at this hour.

"hey, we're closing." he announced loud enough to snap the two out of their focused states.

"just let me finish coloring this hyung? i'll treat you more cookies from the 7/11 nearby."

this got jaemin's attention. without looking up from the paper he's trying to answer, he asked "you know each other?"

"yeah. my brother's boyfriend owns this place."

"taeil hyung?!"

"yep," he then looked up towards _the other_ what about you? i didn't see you order from them but you got served food. what's that about?"

jaemin was about to reply but taeil suddenly pulled up a chair and placed himself on the unoccupied side of the table, doyoung followed suit and sat opposite his brother.

"it's because he comes here three times a week and orders the same damn thing. it's like he's the only reason why we're stocking up bread and lettuces." _the other_ just nodded in response.

"are you done with that?" doyoung asked _the boy_.

"yeah let me just pack up." jaemin did the same, he didn't want to be alone in a closed cafe after all.

when the brothers locked down the cafe and they started to walk in the same direction, jaemin quickly asks his unanswered questions to doyoung.

"hey hyung," he got a hummed answer.

"what's his name?" doyoung smirked at that then loudly said "hey shortie!"

"which one?" _the boy_ answered, resulting a "yah!" from taeil and a playful push.

"you." doyoung replied.

"me?" _the boy_ questioned, receiving a hum back.

_the boy_ then turned his whole body towards jaemin.

"huang renjun." was his response before flashing a smile. "what's yours?"

"na jaemin." he then waved shyly.

noticing they were about to cross the street, jaemin told them he was heading off first because his dorm is just a few steps away.

after receiving a "see you soon!" and a wave with a smile from renjun, he couldn't help but smile widely as he felt his cheeks getting warm.

what an interesting night.

✫彡

the following week consisted of exams, projects, and getting to know renjun on the friday that week. it also so happened that friday was the last day on both students' exams (which they learned earlier that renjun is an interior design student and jaemin an accounting student), so they enjoyed their time and got to know each other more in the cafe.

"may i ask why taeil hyung and doyoung hyung drops you back to your dorm?" was the nth question jaemin asked _the boy- renjun, rather_

"ah," renjun started as he brought down his chocolate-mango smoothie "i'm from china originally. my brother actually came and study here first but went back after our parents found out he's been prioritizing dancing more than his academics. and in that year, it was just last year actually and taeil hyung was graduating and my ge is in second year, they were in a relationship. he's trying to convince them that he'd rather major traditional dancing than history and our parents just didn't want him to because he's proven himself "irresponsible" because of "what korea did to him". so i offered myself to come and study here to prove to our parents that nothing about what we want in life will fluctuate because we're in a different environment. ge's passion has always been dancing, he just took history as his major because he was good at it and he felt pressured as the first child. i then came here in the cafe just last week to see taeil hyung's work. though i've known him ever since they became boyfriends. i just focused on not getting myself lost in the university for the first few months." he nodded to himself for a while before continuing "the cafe's nice actually, i heard they're gonna add a second floor on summer. i'm also going to talk to them to help their interior design." jaemin couldn't help but smile at that.

"wow. you still didn't answer why they bring you back every night though."

"oh! ever since last week i always stay here until they close. you know, because an older brother can be protective and asked taeil hyung to take me back home. i really like the cafe as well as taeil hyung. i'm glad he and ge found each other. and of course my brother convinced my parents unknowingly to be in an apartment literally next to their's."

"what?" jaemin answered in english in disbelief which made renjun laugh.

"how about you though? i don't see you everyday in here but you and the hyungs know each other and even automatically taking your order."

jaemin started humming then said "i only go here every mondays, wednesdays, and fridays. every tuesdays and thursdays i go to other cafes."

"oh so you're like, a cafe expert now?"

"well only those near the university."

"another thing," jaemin added "the first day you were here, why were you looking back and forth in my direction?"

renjun widen his eyes at that then slowly answered "because... i was sketching your backpack."

"my backpack?" jaemin repeated since the boy's voice got quieter at the end.

"yeah."

"why?"

"because you made a plain black backpack prettier by designing it with things you're interested in." renjun couldn't help but look at the bag beside jaemin.

"oh! well did you finish it?"

"no actually, i was drawing the second pin when you left."

"do you want to finish it?"

"yes!" renjun replied rather enthusiastically, making the other customers flinch and taeil to look at them in confusion.

the chinese then became shy and timidly brought out his sketch notebook.

"not here." jaemin said while signing the boy to put it back in his backpack. he brought out his wallet and stood up, heading towards their counter and taeil.

"i'm going to take him home." he said while handling the older his total bill.

"make sure he comes back safe." taeil replied while handling the younger his change.

"of course." he just smiled and turned back to renjun.

"ready to go?"

"o...kay?" he followed the younger anyway.

while walking, jaemin suddenly turned left when they were supposed to cross.

"wait, aren't you bringing me home?"

"yeah," jaemin turned around and continued "later, after you finish sketching my bag."

renjun couldn't help but smile widely as he felt his cheeks getting warm.

what an interesting day.


End file.
